The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-05-26
PRESBYTERIAN REUNION.
DIR. SMOOT SHARPLY CRITICISED
BY A GEORGIAN.

Becomes Warm.
ST. LOUIS, May 25.-The following is an
epitome of the speech made yesterday after
noon in the Southern Presbyterian Assem-
bly, by Col. Livingston, of Georgia, in which
he not only spoke in favor of the majority
report on the union of the two assemblies,
but handled with bare knuckles DR.. Smoot,
of Texas, who had presented and advocated
the minority report. Col. Livingston said:
"When the majority of the committee
made their report it was out of no disrespect
for the fathers of the church, like DR..
Il Smoot." The speaker admitted he had rep
resented his people in the Legislature at
home but he was not a politician. DR..
Shoots speech was made up of the ''bloody
, shirt" and an attack upon the Methodist
Board
A MISPLACED POLITICIAN.
He characterized DR. Smoot as natural
born politician in the pulpit of Christi He
said Dr. Smoot had been mad ever since the
Federal army came into his county, in Ken
lucky, when they made him step up every
thirty days and take the oath. 'They could
not trust him more than thirty days" Ever
since that time he has had no use for any,
thing north of Mason and Dixon's line Dr.
Smoot said he would not go if all the Others
went. The speaker suggested, rather
quantity, that they would let him stay.
[Laughter.l He wanted to know if there
was any politics in his predecessors address
concerning Wendell Phillips and Lloyd
. Garrison.
THE DOCTORS BITTERNESS.
He wondered if Northern man ever used
language more cutting to the Southern
people than that was TO the Northern people.
DR.. Smoot was different from Garrison.
Mr. Garrison would say to DR.. Smoot:
''Yor rebellion caused all the sorrow and
run,n and the doctor would reply, "Well,
you led us to do it.n The war was over
and its issues should be buried forever and
ever. As to cooperation, the speaker de-
clared that Abraham armed his servants
and went down and helped Lot and released
him and his family. They did not cooperate
any more because the town was burned up
and Lots wife was turned into pillar of
salt The men supporting the majority d.
report were born farther down into the
heart of slavery and war than ever DR..
SmOot was. AS the statement that the ma
jority had doctored the figures the speaker
completely overturned the charge.
SILENCE GIVES CONSENT.
1t was unfair to the Presbvteries which
had not been heard from, to say they were
not moving in the matter The legal pre-
sumption was that the silence of the Presby-
terles meant their consent. There was no
question but that five spoke in favor of it.
The others either cared nothing for it or
favored it. AS to the charge that this
movement ought not TO follow business
men, ''the fchildren of this world are wiser
In their generation than the children of
light" this, Christ had said to certain peo-
pie, once. The trouble with the Presbyte-
rian church was that there had been too lit
tie business about it. Business men were
hard-headed and sensible. and the church
should have some of their sense.
SHOOTS NEW MISSIONARY SCHEME.
As to DR.. Smoot's idea of sending mis-
sionaries to convert the New Englanders
from their Unitariansm and other isrns, " the
speaker said he would like to be one of the
missionaries They might answer him in
some fashion, such as this: Don't you
think you Southern Presbyterians had bet
ter 60 back and tend to those millions of
nggers you have down there" God never
intended a separation Of his children.
POLITICAL IDEAS SOMEWHAT MINED
A clause in the majority report specially
stipulated that the Southern church did not
believe in deliveranceS or politics. The
Southern church went out because the
Northern assembly in 1861 in Philadelphia,
had declared its members to be under the
government of the United States, govern
ment de Jdcto and de jHre, and no member
Of the church should bear arms against it.
Ii this clause was removed then the church
could go back. How many political deliver
ances had the Southern church made?
Many>of them. The people at Omaha had
notified this assembly that they would ac-
cept just what the Missouri synod had ac-
cepted. DR.. SmoOt had dug up the bloody
shirt and washed it and waved it and raked
up every cruel thing the Northern church
had ever said.
JUDGE BY THE PRESENT
- 1t was not a fair thing to make the
Northern church of to-day stand for the
CHURCH of ten, fifteen or twenty years ago
It would have been fairer TO have taken
their later declarations as an expression of
opinion. If the assembly did not pay more
attention to the overtures now made, the
church would lose many border Presby
telles. The whole matter of church pro
gress and church growth had been hmdered
by the two conflicting churches in one field.
| IN all other matters the issues and differ
ences of the war were being buried out of
SIGHT and the church of God should not be :.
Tie last to harmoniZe.
YESTERDAYS WORK.
>. The Presbyterian General Assembly,
south, devoted the morning session to the
argument on organic union. Elder j. I.
livingston, of Georgia, and Rev. j. NJ
loItS, or Alabama, spoke i'll favor of
HTinon with the Northern church, and w. H.
rafks, OF st. Louis, opposed it.
WILL COOPERATE AFTER ALL
Theinvitation Of the Second Presby yterian
church, of Philadelphia, to the Assembly to
aold their next session in that city and ex;
lending their hospitality was declined, as
% ms assembly has no church in Philadelphia
out they resolved to hold their next session
IN May, 1888, at Baltimore, and TO take a
recess on the fourth Tuesday in May and
proceed to Philadelphia to assist
VI the celebration of the centen-
ma ma anniversary of the Reformed Pres
oyterlans OF America. They further
accepted their quota of the addresses and
@ .ne following speakers and subjects were
sf assigned: Rev. =. M. Palmer Children of
sne 9, Covenant; Rev, NJ. D. Hoge, City Evan
sellatlon Rev. j. l.. Girardeau, History of
rrr,,Soyteranisln and It's Work for the
r,uIurei Rev. NJ II. Houston, Foreign Mis-
SONS; Rev. W. II. Moore, Home Mis-
oYis o59 Rev. Jerry Witherspoon, the closing
Tu"ueSs; j. Randolph Tucker, of Virginia,
Ne Adaptation sof Presbyterians to the
pS,aiSeS; w. G. p. Breckenridge, Of Ken
\ JJ'VsSy, Of Calvinism and Religious Liberty;
T., ;s,,, ., Cotteran, of South Carolina, Calvin
EN- en- and Human Progress; Clifford Ander-
Nh, Mn, OF Georgia, Lay Effort Among the
,o nIr Otis, in his speech for union, spoke
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